Shooting and Reviewing the Beretta Pico 380

Hickok45. We’re fortunate to have so many cool little pocket guns these days, aren’t we? We have a relatively new one that has not been out all that long from Beretta we’re going to shoot today and talk about. We appreciate them sending it to us for T&E. Why don’t we just take a shot?

It hit the cowboy. You’re next. Empty. It’s a 6+1 little pistol, Beretta Pico, smaller than the Nano. Nano, then even smaller, Pico, some kind of unit of measurement as I understand. This little gun is little. It is thin. It is slim. That is its claim to fame. It’s not as thick as even the LCP which we have out here for comparison. Most of you are familiar with the LCP and the P380 from Kahr. These are all clear. This firearm is actually thinner than they are.

Let me show you. I was surprised. I went in and pulled this thing out of the safe. That’s the thickness on it. Look at the additional space there. I didn’t know you could get much thinner than that, than the LCP. It’s a little gun. I don’t think I actually tested—on the Kahr, it’s about like the LCP just a tad thicker. There’s hardly any difference. This thing is thin. That is the claim to fame. A little six-shot, a 380, and you may not have ever seen it or held it.

You need to hold it and see how it feels to you because it has a strange feel party because you have a high bore axis. It’s a hammer-fired gun. It’s truly a hammer-fired revolver. You have second-strike abi—revolver, pistol. You have a second-strike capability there. You are doing everything every time you pull the trigger. It doesn’t half cock when it fires and the slot retracts and it’s half-cocked and it gets locked.

None of that stuff like you see in some pistols. It’s a full-length pull and cocking the hammer every time. I think it was introduced at an NRA convention in about 2013 maybe. It’s been a little bit off my radar. I wasn’t that familiar with it until recently. It is very small. Again, it’s ultra-thin. You almost don’t know you have. Let me lay it down there. It’s all stainless steel and polymer, a 380, and it’s ready for +P as I understand.

It’s made well. You’d expect that from Beretta, wouldn’t you? Again we welcome Beretta to Tennessee. I always have to mention that in a Beretta video. We’re glad to have them here. It’s in the Nashville area. Pretty cool, huh? We’re also glad to have some ammo from Federal. We appreciate the support from Federal. We’re going to shoot mostly Federal, going to try a couple of other things, just for kicks, a hollow point or two here.

I’ve got some Golden Saber. I don’t have any 380 Federal hollow points I don’t think, so I’ll just drag some of that out. It is a carry gun and it should chamber those. We especially appreciate our sponsor, Bud’s Gun Shop. Check the link and you’ll see any of these companies in Bud’s Gun Shop in there. Go check them out. We appreciate that. A lot of people make this possible. It’s Thanksgiving season this week so we’re thankful for all the people who help make this possible, for the weirdo behind the camera that films. Sometimes that weirdo’s me when I’m filming John.

Anyway back to the gun. You might’ve seen my Facebook posting on this gun, the picture of it. I made a comment there. You should be checking Facebook and the Hickok45 and son channel and all that. Make sure you’re doing that. On Facebook I mentioned that you’ll either love this gun or you’ll hate it. You’ll love it because it seems well made and so far it seems reliable.

I’ve been shooting it for a few days here and it has fed everything up to this point. It’s Beretta. Beretta’s been making guns for, I think it’s been a couple of decades. Oh no, wait a minute, couple of centuries, no wait a minute, 500 years. Is that right? I don’t know if they’ve been working on this particular model all that long. Probably not. They make good guns. We all know that. They might make something that the feel of it’s not ideal, like 92f and a 92, the 92 gets a lot of love and then it gets hate.

Whatever it is, it’s probably made pretty well whether you like the feel of it or not, and caliber, and all that sort of thing. This gun is different. It’s definitely because the smaller you get, as I have pointed out many times to you. I hope you’ve been listening and taking notes. The smaller a firearm is, and they’re generally carry guns when they get down this small aren’t they? I don’t think you’d have this for a range gun or a nightstand gun probably. There are better choices.

These firearms, really all of these, when you get down to this size, it’s engineers sitting around a table deciding what can we do to make this thing as small as we possibly can, as small as we possibly can and still fire a real cartridge, at least 380, and be reliable, and work, and be accurate, have decent sights on it maybe even, and fit in a pocket? That’s a challenge. If it’s just a range gun, it’s a just a big old Glock or a big old M&P that you’re just going to shoot, a house gun or whatever, it’s easier to do that.

That much difference in thickness or ten ounces don’t necessarily make a big difference. With these, it does. This gun, it feels awkward to me. I will tell you that. that’s one of the negatives. It’s kind of awkward to work the slide. It’s a tradeoff. They were about making this thing as thin as they possibly could. Look at that. When you put the calipers on that—on most guns you’ve got the slide lock that’s a lot thicker than the slide, protrudes, even on Glock or something which is pretty much a minimalist gun, it protrudes a little bit.

This thing, it just doesn’t change. It is that thick everywhere, or that thin I should say. That is pretty amazing. Consequently your slide lock there is a little difficult to get to in a hurry. You would not want to have a hang-up in the middle of a gun fight with this thing. To clear it and get the slide to work and everything—John and I was just talking before the video. What I would do is I would throw it and run, or go for my second or third or fourth gun that I usually have on me.

I wouldn’t be messing with it too much if I didn’t have a lot of time. On the positive side, it has good sights and the trigger actually feels good to me. In the hand, it’s got a high bore axis and there’s not much to get ahold of. You talk about two fingers. Some people don’t like having a firearm they can just get two fingers on. This is a one-finger gun, at least with a flush magazine. It’s a one-finger gun. It really is. When you pick it up like that, you feel like it’s just going to fall out of your hand.

I’ve got big hands, so you’ve got to consider that bias. It’s not a bias; it’s just a biological limitation, just like my mental limitations. I’m controlling it with one finger by and large. That said, when I picked it up the first time, I was like I would never be able to shoot this or hit anything with it. The trigger pull, even though it’s kind of stiff, it’s very consistent and fairly smooth, and I like it. It feels like a revolver on the hammer. That hammer I would like to have on some other small guns, like the LCP, maybe even the Kahr. I like the trigger pull on the thing. It’s not bad at all, not bad at all.

Let’s shoot it a little. We could shoot it a lot. Where’s my other magazine? I’ve got one loaded. You also get this magazine. Don’t laugh if you’ve seen this yet. How’s that? Isn’t it cute? I love the other magazine. That’s an extension. I love that extension. I love extensions on magazines. [Laughter] Actually I don’t generally speaking at all.

Of course if you put that magazine in it, however you’re carrying it, that probably is going to eliminate that method of carry unless it’s in a holster. I don’t know, I guess that’d fit in a pocket but it definitely extends, puts a lot of length on it. I don’t know, John I don’t think it really helps that much. When you pick it up to shoot it, you want to grasp it as high as you can. Down there I don’t know if that helps. I really don’t. Let me get around it. That’s tough. You’ve got your magazine release right there.

I think the very reason they have that, that kind of European style there on the trigger guard or whatever you want to call it, it’s behind the trigger guard, is maybe if they had it right here, this is so thin that you’d probably activate the mag release. Let me pull that out. Let’s see, what did I decided was the best way? I’m just going to spread and lock it back. It’s difficult to get a handle on it. It really is.

The serrations are really not that sharp. It’s very thin and it’s a very strong spring. I discovered putting that back in and releasing is the best way to do that. I’ve got both mags loaded. Certain awkwardness about it as you see. I’m trying not to exaggerate it, but you definitely wouldn’t want to carry this pistol without a round in the chamber I don’t think. You might fumble around a while getting one in the chamber if you had an emergency. Let’s take a shot here. I don’t know if I’d hit too much with it. Let’s try that pot.

That put a hole in it, just didn’t break it.

Send him off. Let me get that guy.

I really probably cannot hit those without shooting a lot, those two-liters down there. I’ll try one.

It wasn’t too far off. I could tell. Pull down. I’ve discovered for me the best way to extract a magazine is not try to push down my thumb or even my trigger finger, is just grab it like that. It just works better for me. I’ll try a couple more shots at it. Let’s try the big one on the left.

I’m going to try for the middle of that tombstone.

Like I said, I’m surprised I hit those, but you know why I did it. Other than the fact that I’m a genius, the reason I was able to hit those was extreme concentration. Oh man, I need to get the magazine out. Part of it may be it’s new and still stiff. The reason I was able to was even though you feel like you have a very good grip on it at all, but what makes up for that a little bit is, or a fair amount, is the trigger.

I really like that trigger. You can pull that right on through without moving the gun. Unlike the LCP I want to pull it and load left. A lot of little guns you want to. They’re just hard to shoot well. I didn’t make this up, but you’ll read a lot of people who know a lot about firearms, more than I do, will tell you these are guns for a professional almost. They’re a pro’s gun. They’re someone who really knows and has a lot of experience shooting these really little guns.

That’s why as I’ve advised before, don’t take someone into a gun shop to help them choose a gun who are new to firearms, who are going to get a carry permit or just got it, and maybe they’re small of stature and they want a little gun. Any of these guns, I don’t think they’re a great first firearm at all. They’re hard to shoot. They’re hard to shoot well. They’re a gun and you’ve got a gun, but man they’re just not easy.

These little bitty guns are really for someone I think with a lot of experience. Again, when you pick this gun up, many of you are going to hate that grip. There’s just no way around that, you’re going to hate it. Again on the positive side of that, you will be surprised if you fire it that you can actually hit something because you still pull that trigger right on through and keep it on target. If I were going to keep this firearm or buy it, I would—it’s a T&E gun like I said—I would—we’ll probably have some TALON grips for it—I would put a strip of something. I didn’t want to do it for the video.

I wanted it to be realistic, what it is. I’ve got some old ones on that LCP. That thing stays in the safe. It’s an older one. They’ve improved the LCP. It has a much better trigger these days, so I’m not apt to carry that probably. I’ve still got the old sandpaper TALON grips on it. I would cut a strip of that or the rubber and put it around there for now. It would be a lot easier to shoot and a lot easier to hold, no doubt about it. It’s slippery.

On top of not having much to grab, it’s slippery. I don’t know why they couldn’t do something with that. Anyway, the trigger saves you a little bit. Let’s shoot it a little bit more. The sights are good. You can see it has three-dot sights. It has really good sights. It might have the best sights of any of these little guns like that. It’s the thinnest, it’s got great sights, and it’s a Beretta. What else?

Let me show you how it breaks down, pretty simple. It’s not hard to find a wrench for it. See that little screw on the side? You just turn that. I actually kind of like that. It’s your typical—pull this out. It seems to be well made. It should be. It’s made by Beretta. The other thing I didn’t point out is the chassis. It’s like the Nano. You’ve got your serial number on the chassis. You can take a pin out. I haven’t done that. I read about it. I guess it’s just that pin. Take it out and pull the chassis out.

That’s the gun. That’s the serial numbered part. I don’t know if they have them available yet but you’ll have a pink grip frame, which you might want or maybe even different contours. I’m not sure. There’s several company—I think. Beretta’s done that on at least a couple of firearms. That might be the wave of the future. That’s pretty cool if you have a chassis that is the actual firearm trigger mechanism. It’s part of that. You can really, if you want a bigger grip, a smaller grip, a different contour, it gives a lot of flexibility there.

That might be the coming thing down the road in the firearms industry. I can see a lot of sense behind that. It seems to be well made. Spring back up there and then the screw automatically rights itself. It actually breaks down pretty easily. That’s a little different than most firearms, I like that. It’s easier than some of these little firearms. There we go, there’s another positive. I’ll put it in the positive column because I know I’m being mean on some issues here with this firearm.

Some of the pins, you’ve seen me struggle with the body guard and some of the others. I should really struggle. Other people don’t struggle necessarily, but some of those pins are kind of difficult and tricky to get in and out I will say. Let’s load these magazines. We’ve got to find out whether it’s gong worthy. Let’s go ahead while it’s dirty and fire a couple of hollow points since it is a defensive firearm.

I don’t think it’s an offensive firearm. Is it an assault pistol? I don’t think so. It could be used that way though, just like a hammer or a saw. I’ll put some of these in. These are Blazer. I’ll put them in this other magazine just to shoot some different ammo here in it. Like I said we’ve not had a malfunction yet. I’ve shot it over several days. I’ve cleaned it two or three times.

It could be today though. You never know what’s going to happen. Let’s try to get it a little dirtier with this Blazer. This is a gun you have to get ready to go before you leave the house, make sure you’ve got a round in the chamber. It’s hard to get ahold of. Blazer. Let’s just go for the gong with one of these.

We had our first hang-up. Would you know? Blazer. It’s going to be a challenge probably to get clear, get the magazine out. There we go. Boy that’s tough. I have shot some of the Blazer and it didn’t do that. It did it that time though didn’t it? Of course some guys don’t like Blazer, just thought I’d try it.

Got him. Couldn’t tell that time. Let’s try the hollow points out there. This is what we really want it to chamber if you’re going to carry it and to function with.

Got him.

I’ll get him once at least, I don’t know. They cycle okay. It is more important than the Blazer. We haven’t had any trouble with the American Eagle at all. In fact that was the once malfunction right there. You witnessed it. You were here for it. What else about it? I like the trigger. Like I said, I like the trigger. I love the sights. I like the thinness of it.

If I had a little more to get ahold of, I’d be more favorable toward it. Depending on your grip and your hands and how you think a gun feels, you just need to feel this gun. It’s obviously made well, so it just comes down to how it feels to you, these little firearms. As usual again, beware, being a firearm too small, if you don’t have a need for one that small. If you’ve got a need for a little firearm—

John and I were going to start the video with this thing in my shirt pocket and I kind of thought better of it, catch all the Safety Sally. We’re going to do it anyway John. We don’t care. Everybody see it’s unloaded. Anybody see any rounds in there? I’m not a magician. I can’t load this gun quickly or magically. I’ll pull the hammer. I think it’s empty.

There’s something we can do in live video. I’ll stick it in my pocket. It doesn’t have the magazine. It doesn’t really matter. You can have that thing in your pocket. It fits in a shirt pocket. I’ll even turn it up. We know there’s nothing in it. It’ll go off over my shoulder. I don’t like to aim it at myself of course. You wouldn’t carry it that way, but it’s just a demonstration.

We had thought about doing that to start the video and like we’d lost the gun. Where’d the gun go, and everything. It’s better if we do it this way. You can see for yourself it’s really unloaded. It’s not just supposedly unloaded. It’s just a really small, thin piece of hardware. It’s just that simple. That’s one of the big advantages of it. Who needs to be shot here that hasn’t been shot?

There it is. There am I again. This is just not your average firearm. In its defense, I’ll say I love the Kahr PM9, that little one there, the P38. You’ve got to be careful loading that first round on those guns too. It’ll just hang up on you. It’s weird when you jack the first round it, but yet that’s the only time it does that. They’re really, really reliable. These little guns can be a little quirky. Now it’s loaded. We’re not going to put it in my shirt pocket. Let’s try a little one-handed at something, try the cowboy.

Try one of those plates.

It’s more shoot able than you would think. I wouldn’t want to attend a [Inaudible] [22:24] match with it or anything, but it is more shoot able than it looks. Why don’t I just try—what might fall if I—let’s try that turkey on the top row. At least you can see how far off I am in the leaves maybe. I’m going to try and get close to it.

It’s kind of all around. It’s not a long-range gun, no doubt about it. It’s more shoot able than it appears. That’s the bottom line. That magazine extension doesn’t really help me much. I would just carry it with the flush magazine. If you’re going for small, go for small. If I’m going to have a firearm that’s that long, I’ll just get me a gun with a real grip.

The advantages are the thinness of it, really good sights, and the fact that it’s made by Beretta, it’s all stainless and polymer, and it seems reliable. We had one hang-up with Blazer, but that’s the only hang-up we’ve had with it. You’d want to shoot it a lot, break it in before you’d carry if this was your choice. I love the trigger. I don’t like the grip. I don’t like the high bore axis. It’s just way too high for that small a grip for me.

It’s thin, very, very small. If you’ve got small hands, this gun might feel decent to you, pretty good to you. To me it doesn’t. Negative would be again it needs sharper serrations in order to manipulate that. It’s a masterpiece in how they got it so thin, even the slide lock and everything. It’s a work of art in that regard. It really is. Pick one up and feel it. If you’re looking for a little gun like this—I would advise you not to be looking for a gun this small unless you’ve done a fair amount of shooting.

If you have you can pick it up and determine whether this is something that you would want or not, whether you can probably shoot it or not, if it’s in the ballpark at least. Nice trigger. I like that. That’s my take on it, the positives, the negatives. We appreciate Beretta sending it to us to put through the paces and see what we think about it.

It’s a really little gun. It’s tough to make a really little gun that’s easy to shoot. I’ve got a North American Arms Derringer you all keep asking me to bring out. We’re going to do that one day. It’s a really cool little gun, really well made, but it’s just so small, I just barely can shoot it. That’s one reason we haven’t done a video with it. The smaller you get, the harder they are to shoot well. They’re much easier to carry and they’re really cool looking, but you need to be practiced and accomplished and know whether it’s something you can actually handle, something that’s this small and thin. Pick it up some time. You might love it. Your hand might not be as big as mine. Glad you came out today. Live is good.